Tusker crushes 78-year-old man to death in Hassan village, hides body under coffee plants

HASSAN: A 78-year-old man was trampled and gored to death by a tusker at Adibylu village in Alur taluk on Tuesday evening. His body was found under coffee plants in an estate on Wednesday morning. The deceased was identified as Puttaiah.

The spot where Puttaiah’s body was found.

Puttaiah had gone to Magge village on Tuesday and purchased some food items, including mutton, and was returning to Adibylu village through a narrow path passing through the forests and some estates. Suddenly, he encountered the tusker which caught him by the trunk and threw his against a tree. The elephant then crushed his head with its leg and gored him in the thigh region.

The path that Puttaiah took to go to Magge village and return home.

The elephant then dragged Puttaiah’s body for some distance, covered it with coffee plants and trumpeted loudly. Puttaiah’s younger son Manju, who was collecting fodder for his goats, heard the trumpeting and ran back to the village. The elephant then made its way near the Ranganathaswamy temple in Adibylu village where a motorcycle rider had a narrow escape after ditching the vehicle.

His towel and bag were found in the coffee estate.

When Puttaiah did not return home at night, his family members called up their relatives and friends to inquire about him. On Wednesday morning, Manju and some of the villagers went through the narrow path and first found Puttaiah towel on the ground and his bag nearby. A little distance away, they found Puttaiah’s body covered under coffee leaves.

Sakleshpur MLA Cement Manju met the family members along with Forest Department officials.

Puttaiah had been the narrow path since his childhood. Residents of the Sakleshpur-Alur have often been facing conflicts with elephants and so far, about 80 people have lost their lives. Locals also complained that the Forest Department does not provide them information about the presence of elephants.

On Wednesday morning, Hassan Congress Lok Sabha member Shreyas M Patel and Sakleshpur BJP MLA Cement Manju (Manjunath) visited the family of the deceased and offered their condolences. They also handed over a cheque for Rs 15 lakh as compensation to the family.